LeRoy Exposed: The Saga Continues

Perhaps I spoke a bit harshly in my previous post about JT LeRoy. I was upset because he and his assistant phoned the PR line of our chocolate factory asking for chocolate, when in fact my own generous offer of free chocolate many months earlier via email went ignored. But perhaps JT LeRoy never even saw the email. There's a good chance he didn't. Emails get lost in space, sometimes.

But then Mr. LeRoy's assistant sent a follow-up email after the call. This is an excerpt.
"JT is unusual in that he hearkens back to an earlier time when filthy lucre was avoided by means of barter. In the world of big business, advertising dollars are spent willy-nilly, in periodicals that may or may not attract a dedicated audience. JT decries this depersonalization of product. He prefers to give items that he loves a
personal spin, explaining, as only he can, how his life has been enhanced by this or that thing. I've attached a piece that JT had done for Black Book about Mandy Aftel's perfumes. Through it, you will see how JT can best any PR firm's appraisal of a product. As you read it, please understand that no money ever changed hands between Mandy and JT. Instead, gifts were sent to JT's friends and a story woven out of that experience."

Sick! So if we give JT LeRoy chocolate to share with his friends, he'll write about us? I personally feel that this is filthy lucre, and that if he wants to write about Scharffen Berger, he should just do it. We give everyone free chocolate; you don't have to get all slimy about it. The whole thing leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

It made me mad for the rest of the day, and the only reason I care is because JT LeRoy is famous, so he can get away with being like that. People melt for fame. I'd like to think I only melt for famous writers, because I admire them or their talent, insight, skill, and hard work. And success.

This is not true, though. I'm as big a whore for fame as any schmuck. I know this because Wavy Gravy was in our store yesterday, and I couldn't help but walk by and get a look at him. Wavy Gravy is hardly even famous! He does have an ice cream named after him, though (Wavy Gravy is best known for being the guy who, at the original Woodstock, warned revelers against the brown acid--but he's also a philanthropist who runs a clown camp for disadvantaged kids. That's cool, even though I distrust clowns).

If I get all excited about Wavy Gravy in the store, of course I'm going to get my knickers in a knot over this ridiculous JT LeRoy business. I guess I'm dissapointed that it turns out he's under the influence of his ow fame, bandying about for greasy-palm chocolate. I'd like to think he's more pure than that.

What if I'm famous someday? What if someone met met and they though, "oh geez, what an insufferable bitch." I must remember not to covet fame, and to be nice and down-to-earth under all circumstances. More like Wavy Gravy.